Pissed off by Quick Step announcing that they'd signed classics stud Stefan Schumacher before offering him a contract, Paolo Bettini took out his revenge on the rest of the peloton. He roared up the road as it kicked up to the line to make just a little bit of a statement as he won the stage rather dominant fashion. The way he looked yesterday, I wouldn't bet against him defending his world championship at Varese later in the month. Meanwhile, Valverde did what is fast becoming a rather ugly pattern for him in grand tours. Winning some early stages and generally looking strong at the top of the GC, there always seems to be a stage where it all comes crashing down rather magnificently for him. In this year's Vuelta, that stage was yesterday. He got caught napping at the back of the peloton when it fractured on a rather technical downhill. When the rest of the main contenders noticed he was not there, they out the hammer down and it was game over. By the end of the stage, Valverde had lost over three minutes and plummeted from 4th place all wthe way down to 11th. His Vuelta hopes are done and we haven't even hit the decisive mountain stages yet. That happens tomorrow. And it it starts off with a bang by finishing tomorrow's stage up the dreaded Angliru. Some call it the hardest climb in road racing. It averages over 10% and kicks up to 23% in places. If there's one stage to follow in this race, tomorrow would be it. Go here for live coverage options. CN and Pez both have nice little profiles of the monstrosity of a mountain. And, of course, they both have everything else you need to know about yesterday's action.
On the eve of the big mountains, it looks like we have ourselves a brand new race in the FGBC Pool. Vic is still in the lead, but it's getting pretty tight again. Valverde implosion won't help him in the bonus points either. Come on Arlene nipping at the Tenor's heels, just 51 points back. And my team is another 74 points behind her. With 3 riders in the top 10 and five in the top 20, the future bodes well for dr. divisive. But we've got to get over the mountains first. Anything can happen. Not to be overlooked in all the excitement about the GC was yesterday's stage. The Impaler wins his second stage of the race with 230 points. Me and Arlene were second and third, with 210 and 205 points, respectively. Hold on to your hats, boys and girls. After today's rest day, it promises to get pretty exciting for the next few days.
Stage 12 Results:
Brad 230
Chris 205
Arlene 200
Matt 180
David 100
Dallas 60
Paddy 60
Jonny B 20
Vic 0
Ian 0
Hal 0
Overall Standings:
Vic 1591
Arlene 1540
Chris 1466
Paddy 1278
Jonny B 1196
Hal 1079
David 1057
Brad 1033
Matt 1009
Ian 914
Dallas 567
Friday, September 12, 2008
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1 comment:
In a candid moment, his tongue doubtless loosened by the sweet nectar at the Clubhouse, Vic revealed to me alone his highly scientific and well thought out method for picking his top performing Grand Tour teams.
I would tell you all, but then I'd have to kill you.
Just watch out for me at next year's Giro.
The Impaler
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